A Short Stay in Windsor with Kids

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Windsor is somewhere I have always wanted to visit so when planning a trip to LEGOLAND® this summer, I decided to add an evening in Windsor onto our trip. I would have loved to take a tour inside of Windsor Castle but unfortunately, time wasn't really on our side and it wasn't meant to be this time - perfect excuse for another visit though! Return train travel booked the week before for 5 of us was £270 using our friends and family railcard*. We travelled from Newcastle to Kings Cross then caught the tube to Paddington before catching a 15 minute train to Slough and then a 6 minute train to Windsor. The whole trip took around 4.5 hours from the North East and was pretty straightforward.

We stayed in the Travelodge Windsor Central*. I'd highly recommend this hotel for staying in the town as it's right in the centre and pretty much on the high street. It's also joined onto the train station and has its own car park so very convenient. The staff were lovely and the rooms and breakfast were everything you'd expect from a Travelodge. We paid £129 for a super room (booked one week in advance), £115 for a standard room and £17 for breakfast for us all - I'd highly recommend upgrading to a Super room. They are so much nicer.

Windsor's High Street is right on the hotel doorstep. There's a mini food market and restaurants in the train station too - loads to keep you occupied. The High Street has an upmarket feel and I bet it's a fab place to go shopping. I love that you can see the castle from the main shopping area.

You can get pretty close to Windsor Castle via the High Street and even touch it in some places.

There are signs all over asking you not to trespass on the grounds which of course Jack decided to ignore! He didn't realise he wasn't supposed to go on the grass and we spent the rest of the night joking that the Queen's guards were going to be after him.

A trip to Windsor is not complete without seeing The Long Walk - it really is long! We didn't walk the length of it but the kids had fun running around here.

The views of the castle are through some gates from this perspective but if you peer through the railings you can get a pretty good view.

Right next to the Long Walk is a pub called 'Two Brewers Windsor'. It looked pretty so we decided to stop by for a drink. The pub has an interesting history and it was lovely sitting amongst the fancy houses and cars. A round of drinks cost us less than a pub in Alnwick the week before too so prices weren't too bad.

We couldn't help laughing at all of the rules in this pub though. It felt like everywhere you turned there was a new sign with a new rule. I'm not sure if these were actually a joke or serious? One of the rules was that children aren't allowed in the pub. I don't think I've ever visited a pub where this is the case! Thankfully, they were allowed outside though.

For dinner, we decided to visit Blue Grass BBQ Smokehouse which has views of the castle. Our waitress was lovely but the restaurant seemed understaffed as she had to look after a whole floor plus the outside tables so service was a little on the slow side. Our food was lovely but I've yet to visit a smokehouse which truly blows me away. It was pretty expensive for what we had - £85 for chicken wings to share, a main course each and one round of drinks. It was nice enough but I bet there are much better places to dine out in Windsor so I probably wouldn't recommend.

After dinner, we headed towards the river to walk off some of those burgers. I have honestly never seen so many swans in one place and lots of families were feeding them and out enjoying the evening sun.

There's loads to do around the river including a mini fairground (which closed before we got there), mini golf, play parks and boat trips along the Thames. You can hire boats during the day too.

As we walked back to the hotel to retire for the evening, we spotted a beautiful fountain. On further inspection we discovered it was to commemorate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. A few children had rolled up their trousers and were enjoying a paddle so we thought if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Windsor was everything I hoped it to be and more. It really is such a beautiful part of the world and super family-friendly too. Obviously, there are a few touristy things to do here but it doesn't feel overly crowded with tourists like London does - it still feels like it has a sweet charm of its own. I'd highly recommend to families looking for a break away or as an add-on to London or LEGOLAND® or to couples who are looking for a cute place to escape for the weekend.

4 comments

People always ask me how I managed to live in London for 5 years when it’s soooo busy and stressful - the answer is I used to spend my weekends pottering around beautiful little places like Windsor! It was one of my favourite spots for a mooch!

I've been hoping to take my boys down to Legoland and we all love history so would love Windsor. I'd planned to go in summer but decided against it as honestly I thought the travelling on my own on the train and a hotel stay would be just too tricky and expensive, reading this though its TOTALLY do-able. I've wrote down the train stops and the travelodge and I'm going to get it organised. Could I ask how easy is it to get from Windsor into Legoland?

It was super easy - there's a shuttle bus which stops in the next street and will take you direct to Legoland (reception will show you the exact spot). I think it was £3 per adult and £2 per child. We found it easier to order an Uber straight from the hotel though - £8-10 for a regular car x